This is the beginning of the smokeless revolution, the gun that changes military repeaters for generations and gives us the first taste of the truly modern cartridge. Sadly, the “Lebel” rifle just wasn’t as advanced as its cartridge and would give a middling performance over its rather long service life.

All right, because there was an overflow of basic questions about these rifles we’ll go ahead and get a little feature going to help with comparing them and getting a sense of their scale. If there is anything else you’d like to ask, please do! For anyone unsure of what this is about check out or collaborative video!

All right, I’m sure everyone reading this site is familiar with the Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifle. It is easily the most common surplus arm available in the U.S. and for those overseas I’m sure you see us posting plenty of images of these things. But the M91/30 does have its own history and despite how many you might run into, there are still some rare and unusual variations out there.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire kept up with the smokeless revolution in fits and spurts, but finally settled on an elegant and unusual rifle in Ferdinand Mannlicher’s Model 1895 rifle. These guns would serve reliably all the way through WWII.

It’s fair to say everyone interested in old guns has a passing familiarity with the Mosin-Nagant. But the adoption of the first Mosin, the 1891, was shrouded in military secrecy and then obscured by political turmoil over decades to come. Especially for us sitting in the West, there is a lot unsaid about this classic service rifle.